Former GE exec Immelt joins athenahealth as board chair

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Dive Brief:

Athenahealth has appointed Jeff Immelt as the company's new chairman of the board.

Immelt served as CEO and chairman for GE for 16 years. He stepped down from the position in October.

Immelt plans to purchase about $1 million of athenahealth common stock in the open market.

Dive Insight:

Athenahealth said it chose Immelt based on his healthcare knowledge, his experience with digital products and ability to scale large organizations. Immelt helped grow GE Healthcare from a $3 billion enterprise to $20 billion.

The Watertown, Massachusetts-based health IT company has been shaking up its senior management structure since May, when activist investor Elliott Management, led by billionaire Paul Singer, disclosed a 9.2% interest in the company.

In August, the company said it would establish the role of president, a title CEO Jonathan Bush previously held. Athenahealth launched the search for a board chair in the same month.